YEAH UPDATE TIME. And this update we don't have anything to do with Izuku and instead give some other people some time to shine. Why? BECAUSE. Izuku can't hog the lime light all the time.
So without further adieu, let's GET TO READIN.
Aizawa frowned. He hated to see it, but it was practically as inevitable as the rising of the sun.
The U.A. Crush.
"Wow, they're really going at it this year, huh?" Said Emi Fukukado.
Emi's hair, long, straight, and the color of the ocean spray, flowed around her head as she leaned forward in her seat. She brushed a strand back behind one ear, though most of it was held in place by the orange bandanna around her head. Her slim frame held an athlete's build, designed for speed and swift strikes. Her black top led to a pair of bulging turquoise and orange striped shorts. On her feet were a pair of practical black boots and on her hands a pair of orange striped gloves that went to her elbows.
Her face was wide and friendly, her eyes large and a sparkling emerald green. A smile played on her lips, one that seemed natural and easy.
Aizawa liked Emi. Not that he would ever actually tell her that, of course. She'd been a good friend for a long time, and they'd worked together often in his early career. They'd bonded over having quirks that disabled criminals, rather than ones that could be used to aid their own physicality.
Quirks like theirs, after all, were rare in their industry, despite their clear and obvious usefulness.
Emi, of course, held none of the cold resignation of her quirk. But her quirk made others laugh themselves into exhaustion, it didn't go into their very soul and cut out a part of them.
"Yeah." He responded dully, wanting to take his mind off the thought. "But it's always that way."
"Ah, not always. Sometimes they prioritize Shiketsu." She grinned and nudged him. "Do yah get jelly when that happens? Huh? When my kids beat your kids to the crush?"
"Why would I get jealous about that?" Aizawa replied without looking at her. His arms were folded firmly over his chest, his body mostly slumped into his stadium chair. It was uncomfortable, and he really hated that they could spend billions making this place and yet not afford to pad the stadium seats.
Cheapskates.
"HA! I bet you do!" Emi grinned wider and leaned back in her chair, spreading her arms over each seat beside her and crossing one leg over the other. "Jelly Aizawa, that's a funny joke!"
"I'm not laughing."
"HA!" She grinned again. "You're laughing on the inside, that's what really counts."
Aizawa shot her a blank, bored look, before refocusing on the exam.
Well, he pretended to refocus on the exam. Really, he was trying to find his students in the chaos, and one student in particular.
Where the hell was Izuku Midoriya?
He had seen him moments ago, flying high above the field, at least from what Aizawa could make out without binoculars. He now cursed the fact he'd been too cheap to go buy a pair from the gift shop.
Last time he'd seen him he'd dived for the top of the fake mountain, but nothing since then.
He supposed it was the most logical choice. Move away from his fellow classmates so his natural aura of fear didn't affect their performance, but he also had some doubts over how effective it might be. The other students had been getting over the slow feeling of dread that Izuku's power put out, and some of the boy's closer friends seemed completely unaffected by it.
Perhaps he simply wished to prove something to himself. He wouldn't be the first student to run off on his own in the exam.
Still, something about the way the boy had circled, clearly looking for something or someone… he'd have to ask him once the exam was over.
There was a sudden buzzing from Emi, and with an annoyed frown, she reached into one of her many pockets to bring out her phone.
"Ugh, it's Honda." She rolled her eyes. "Probably wanting to check in on the students. Gimmie a few, this might take a while."
"Sure," Aizawa grumbled. "Grab me a juice pouch while you're in the foyer."
"You'll owe me," Emi announced, getting up from her seat.
"I'll take it from the ones you owe me," Aizawa replied without looking at her.
"I think your debt outweighs mine, especially for the updog."
"What's-" He stopped himself. Then he closed his eyes and sighed loudly. "Emi."
"Damn! So close," Emi grinned again and turned away. "I'll get you one day, 'Zawa!"
"Don't call me that," Aizawa grumbled, knowing she was already too far for her to hear.
As he watched her vanish into the stands, he made a small, a very small, noise of amusement before looking back to the exam. It was true. Practically every year the students of the other schools teamed up to take down U.A. as best they could. In a way he couldn't blame them. U.A. was the top school in the country. It was the elite of the elite, the very best that Japan had to offer. Taking them out right away gave the other schools room to breathe.
It was odd then that it rarely worked. The U.A. students were simply better than the vast majority of other students. Sure, they often managed to take out the more foolish members of the class, but that was always a given.
It was rare that every one of his students would pass this exam, and he had no doubts that at least one or two members of class one-A would fail. That was fine. That was why remedial classes existed.
Still, he held out some hope that he would be proven wrong. He didn't mind being proven wrong when it came to his students.
Beating his expectations was something he had come to quietly assume from his class.
"Aren't they just fascinating?"
The voice floated down from two rows above him. Whoever it was had arrived a few moments ago, but Aizawa hadn't turned to look at either of them.
After all, the stands were dotted with the teachers of many different schools, even a few students who were forced to sit the exams out for whatever reason. He even spotted some family members, come to support the hero hopefuls.
"Look at them go. Absolutely marvelous, all of them." The voice was light, carefree, and foppish. The kind of voice that one might deem harmless, but Aizawa wasn't to be fooled. He could hear the edge of vulpine cunning behind it. A pair of fangs in a mouth of grinning teeth. "And so young. My goodness, they're barely children."
"Old enough to fight."
Aizawa's stomach went cold.
He knew that voice. He knew it from the room where his entire world had been blown open in forceful knowledge.
That had been the voice of the small, young-looking demon who had been standing at Lucifer's side. The one with the odd armor and constant grimace. They had said little, but Aizawa would never forget that meeting.
It was Kuroiro. The demonic Equerry of the King of Hell.
For a moment he was frozen. What was he to do? Two demons, and that was assuming the one with Kuroiro was a demon, were sitting behind him. Were they planning on something? No, surely not. This was too open a space, too many eyes were watching.
… could it be they were simply here to watch Izuku? It was possible, though the thought seemed utterly bizarre to him.
Aizawa decided the best thing to do, for now, was to listen. Listening was an art, one that had to be learned with careful study. The art of eavesdropping without looking like one was doing anything at all.
He was a master at such an art. He was a master at anything that concerned stealth and careful observation.
So, he slowly breathed, cutting out the noise of the exam, and leaned back casually, as he focused on the two voices behind him.
"But I suppose that's what they do," Kuroiro continued. "They even include it as part of their education."
"They're going to be heroes, my dear Kuroiro," the older voice replied. "Don't you see? This is the age of wonders born again! Heroes and villains clashing in single combat, the rise and fall of empires. What's old is new, what's dead has been reborn. The great cycle continues, as it has done for millennia."
"If you say so," Kuroiro said. "But you would know, old man."
"Indeed, I would," the older one chastised. "And I would remind you that you should show me respect, as your senior."
"My deepest apologizes." Came the non-apologetic reply.
The older voice huffed but seemed to forgive the slight. "It seems even our Lords are being swept into the great turning of the age. I never thought I'd see the day… but perhaps this is a time of change for even the immortals."
Aizawa's fingers clenched onto the arm of his seat. Lords? Again, he fought the urge to turn and look at the two.
"Speaking of Lords." Kuroiro's voice lowered, though Aizawa could still pick him out over the din of the battle below them. "Where is he? Where's Prince Nemesis?"
Prince Nemesis. The words hammered themselves into Aizawa's brain like nails bring driven into soft flesh. He felt madly out of his depth, and at the same time, the urge to defend and protect his student rose in his heart.
Should he say something? And what could he do? He'd seem like a madman accusing two random people of being demonic entities from hell itself.
"I don't know. He vanished onto that mountain a few moments ago," the older voice continued, "but I've not seen him since." There was a small pause. "Maybe he has stage fright."
"He didn't strike me as the type to get stage fright." Kuroiro moved in his seat. "Maybe he just didn't want us watching him. He does seem wary of us."
"And rightly so," the older continued, "we're not exactly trustworthy. It's in our nature to be untrustworthy."
"True," Kuroiro replied.
There was a small stretch of silence, and Aizawa was beginning to wonder just where Emi was. He considered getting up and looking for her, then using that as an excuse to-
"Mr. Aizawa?"
The teacher felt his blood turn to ice.
"Mr. Aizawa, sir, is that you?"
No fear. He couldn't show any fear before these two. He also had to make sure he was ready with his quirk. If it could affect Izuku, it had to have some power over these two, right? God, he hoped so.
Though asking God for any hope was still, amazingly, out of his area of belief.
He turned, keeping his face an impassive stoic blank as he looked to the two behind him.
Kuroiro looked like any student in the world. He was wearing some dark blue school uniform with a pale white trim, though Aizawa noted there was no emblem anywhere to be found on the unform itself.
The man beside him looked… well, like someone who should be cosplaying as a strawberry pimp but had somehow got lost and wandered through a Victorian outfitters store. Red and white striped pants, suit and top hat, with black shoes and a white shirt with a red and white striped bow tie.
He even held a cane in one hand, with a milky-pale stone top held in place with a strangely carved brass trim.
For a second Aizawa looked to the stone, and he swore he could see movement from within it. Faces that rose and fell from the swirling mist, screaming in agony…
"Mr. Aizawa." Kuroiro stood up and gave a bow. "I did not see you. I apologize for my rudeness."
"Mr. Aizawa?" The other one stood, and Aizawa got a better look at his face. Thin and narrow and sly. There was a definite vulpine-like aspect to him, from his dark, thin brows, slight eyes, and curled goatee. His hair, bluish-black, fell about his face in two long bangs and gave Aizawa the somewhat distinct impression of fangs.
"This is the prince's tutor, Second Baron. The Jewish Champion who assisted our King in their fight against Lord Satani."
"OH!" The demon grinned, and indeed Aizawa saw fanged teeth within his mouth. "Well, it's an honor to make your acquaintance!" Then, before Aizawa could stop him, the demon began stepping over the chairs to make his way down towards him. "I am Mephistopheles! Second Baron to the Privy Council of King Lucifer! And loyal servant of our darling Prince, of course."
"Hey- wait-" The demon hopped into Aizawa's row and stuck a hand out towards him. Aizawa glanced at the hand, then at the demon. "… I don't think it's wise to shake hands with demons."
"Ah, very true. Well, how about a respectful bow?" Mephistopheles took off his top hat and bowed.
Aizawa glanced at Kuroiro, who had decided to take the stairs like a normal person, then gave a curt nod back. "Right."
Then, to Aizawa's great annoyance, the demon pulled down the chair beside him and sat. "So, you must tell me everything about our young Prince. Does he study hard? What chances do you give him on passing this exam? How like his father is he?" Aizawa opened his mouth. "Personally, I found him to be much like our King, defiant and determined, you know? A Celestial willing to see his goals through to the very end, a Celestial who knows his heart and soul! Yes, sir, I believe we have ourselves the making of a great future ruler! Not that I wish for King Lucifer's demise of course."
As Kuroiro arrived, he looked at Aizawa. "I apologize on his behalf, sir. He is… insistent."
"I do not need you talking for me, Sixth Baron." Mephistopheles snapped suddenly. "Anyway, back on our main topic-"
"Why are you here?" Aizawa asked as he folded his arms. It was odd. He didn't feel any boiling heat or biting cold he might have expected to feel from being around a demonic entity. If anything, the only thing he could pick up on was the demon's expensive cologne.
But maybe that was all part of the deception, to lull him into dropping his guard.
Even so, there was a strange aura around the two of them. A sort of quiet danger that put one on edge, like one might feel sitting beside a loaded gun.
"Well, I would have thought that was obvious, Mr. Aizawa."
"We're here to observe the Prince," Kuroiro answered. "He is Lucifer's child. We would be greatly amiss if we weren't to support him while we are here on Earth."
Here on Earth. Aizawa was suddenly struck with the knowledge that he knew very little about the world that he had been thrown into without warning.
He glanced back to the mass of bodies fighting, running, screaming, and shouting down below them. He could spot some members of his class, in quick glances between the dust clouds and flashing quirks.
His eyes then traveled up to the tall faux-mountain. He hadn't seen Izuku leave, but then again, he could have simply dropped down the other side, out of his sight.
"Besides, we were hoping to get a moment with him," Mephistopheles continued. "We still have yet to get an answer to our pressing dilemma."
"… an answer?" Aizawa's stomach curled again, but his warrior's heart kept it down. "For what?"
Mephistopheles blinked at the man. "Why, to see if he'll come to hell with us, of course."
"He's not going anywhere," Aizawa replied in a definitive tone, his eyes growing hard. "Especially not to hell."
"We promised to return him," Kuroiro added cautiously. "But the realm needs a leader. The Council is split, and a Celestial must be there to cast the deciding vote."
"When did you ask him?" Aizawa pressed, letting his anger show through his eyes. The unnerving aura of the demons was starting to lose some of its threat. He could see them clearly now. They were powerful, yes, and could probably take him in a fight if it came to it.
They weren't like their Celestial masters. Despite the threatening, dark aura they held, they didn't have that strange pressure that Azrael and Lucifer had given off. They didn't seem as tall or imposing, neither did they carry an aura of invincibility as they did. In a weird way, he felt sorry for them. They were here because they could not rule themselves, as individuals or a group.
They needed a leader.
To think that there were creatures like them out there… but perhaps that was the fate of all demons. Cursed to never be able to command themselves, as all free souls should.
"We didn't accost him on the street if that's what you're implying." Mephistopheles looked offended at the very thought. "We went through your proper channels, talking to that little… mouse-bear-thing who commands you."
"You talked to Principal Nedzu?"
"Of course. He is the master of your school, is he not? Surely as the highest authority, and with dear Prince Nemesis under his indirect tutelage, it felt right to ask him. Besides, he and King Lucifer were in some manner of agreement."
"I know," Aizawa said darkly.
"Then you agree. It was right to ask him first, though personally, I think we would have gotten a better result cornering the boy while he was on some errand. That is if you would let him out of that fortress you've built."
"He turned you down."
"Indeed," Kuroiro huffed, his stark black and white eyes scanning the messy, chaotic exam. "The Prince became convinced, but Nedzu wouldn't allow it. Oblivion is burning, but he seems intent on keeping the Prince from us. Perhaps he believes he'll escape his eventual punishment." The teenaged-looking demon's smile turned vicious. "He's mistaken of course. No one escapes us."
Aizawa again felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck, and he turned his eyes to the field, determined to not let the two demons see an inch of concern in his expression.
He was silent for a moment before simply announcing. "I can't help you if that's what you're looking for. If Nedzu said no, then I stand by his decision."
The two demons looked aghast.
"But- but our realm is under siege!"
"It'd be only a few hours by your time, surely you could allow that?"
"No." Aizawa folded his arms and gave the two demons a hard look. "I won't hand over any student of mine to a pair of strangers, never mind the fact you're both demons dragging him to hell itself."
"He belongs in hell." Mephistopheles's voice had suddenly turned very cold. There was a steel in his dark eyes that Aizawa hadn't expected to see but wasn't entirely out of place either. He was sharply reminded that despite the way he looked, this was a demon of Lucifer's own council.
He was powerful, and they both knew it.
"He is our Prince. He is a member of the line of Lucifer, and therefore we are pledged to eternally serve him as we would our King. He would not come to any harm."
"The answer is no. He won't talk to either of you, not as long as the school can help it. Not as long as I can help it. Now leave."
"Or what?" Kuroiro sneered, his eyes turning as cool as freshly dug coal. "What can you do to stop us, mortal?"
Aizawa had been afraid many times in his life. He had seen death up close, both his own and those of his friends. He had been knifed, shot, and almost disintegrated, and bore all those scars with pride.
He knew when to fold.
But now, before two demons of hell, he dug in his heels and held his own.
"My quirk has brought Izuku to his knees, several times. Your King even held me in reserve during the War of Tokyo because he realized that my power could wipe the field if he failed to stop Satani. I'm the Jew who can tear a soul from its body, so do you really think I'm going to hold back on a pair of demons threatening my student?" He turned away from them, which was the best insult he could think of. "Now leave, while you've still got the legs to carry you."
For a long moment, the world seemed to go very, very quiet. Aizawa wondered if his calculation, cold and logical as it was, had been the correct one. His hands gripped his shirt, and he tensed ready to leap up at-
"Fine." Mephistopheles stood, though not in any hurry. He did so casually as if the conversation hadn't almost come down to a fistfight. "You are his tutor, and he is under your care."
"But- but Second Baron we-"
"No, no. Come along Kuroiro, we've been denied a second time it seems."
The smaller demon looked from Mephistopheles to Aizawa and back again before sighing loudly and nodding.
However, before they both turned to walk away, the taller demon paused, then glanced to Aizawa. "You know, you can't keep him from us forever. You may wish to live in denial all you want, but sooner or later he will find his way home."
"His home is here, with us."
Mephistopheles only smiled. "Do you really think so, mortal? Maybe for those who cannot fly, the ground seems like home. But for those with wings, well, who's to say where they belong, hm?"
Aizawa watched them walk away until they were completely out of sight. Then he finally breathed, relaxing as best he could and trying to control the hammering of his heart.
Hitoshi was burning.
His lungs ached and his mouth was filled with dust. Every step was like stepping onto hot coals, and his arms were almost numb from the effort of the fighting.
But he kept going.
The exam was, so far, utterly intense. It was madness contained in a building. He wasn't sure what he had expected when the other schools targeted them, but he hadn't been expecting this brawl of a fight where everyone seemed to be separated from everyone else.
He hoped that the others were okay.
Hitoshi already had a point taken from him. He glanced down to his thigh where one of the panels he'd attached was lit in a dull orange glow. The student had come out of nowhere, literally teleporting to his side, and Hitoshi hadn't been fast enough to avoid the ball hitting him.
Of course, Hitoshi had then used a combination of his brainwashing and one for all to quickly make some space between them. That was before the student's friends had shown up and Hitoshi had beaten a hasty retreat.
He had yet to get a point on anyone, which was a piece of knowledge that stung deeply at his heart.
And he had to wonder if any of this would have happened if Izuku had stayed with the group. His mouth split into a vicious, irritated snarl at the thought.
He moved, darting between huge, jutting rocks, and ducked into a tiny cut-out that hid him in deep shadow. He panted, his back pressed against the wall, and he could feel cold sweat soaking into his clothes.
Izuku had abandoned them. And what was worse was that this wasn't done out of some worry, some concern that he'd hurt them with his power.
This was just like the forest all over again. He'd abandoned them for some reason that only he seemed to focus on.
He'd done it because he'd wanted to, placing himself before his friends.
Hitoshi's snarl fell. No, no that couldn't be it. Izuku was a lot of things, but he wasn't that selfish. He had to have some damn good reason for abandoning them, especially when he knew that he was one of the strongest people in their class.
"Fucking… fuck." He hissed to himself as he began to move softly forward, the ground around him shaking with explosions both close and far. The air above was a no-man's land of quirks and projectiles.
He felt like someone in the trenches of a war, where putting even a hand above the parapet was to invite death.
Still, compared to Kamino, this was nothing. He had seen what real war looked like, and it had hardened his soul.
He could handle this, no problem.
But what he needed to do, more than anything, was reuniting with someone, anyone from their class.
No. He couldn't keep relying on others to swoop in and help, and furthermore, he couldn't simply hope that someone would find him. Izuku was gone, out of the fight on whatever mission he had assigned himself.
Was he not Altashiji? As much as he tried to believe it, he still had his doubts. Doubts he wondered if he would ever shake. That tiny voice at the back of his head telling him that he could never be a real hero, not like All Might, not like the others in his class.
A voice that told him his brainwashing was not the power of a hero, and only by All Might's intervention had he been given something that was a truly heroic quirk.
No. He couldn't think like that. He had done the impossible, and he would do so again and again and again until he felt himself truly worthy. Even if that day never came, he would keep fighting for it.
Suddenly above him, there came a giant metal bolt that was falling from the sky and rapidly gaining speed.
Hitoshi moved as though charged by lighting, throwing himself free of the collision. And yet the resulting boom was so loud it shook every bone in his body and caused an instant ringing to sound through his ears and into his brain. The dust cloud it kicked up washed over him, covering everything in a brown coating of dirt.
He was instantly glad of his mask, which had managed to save the dust from clogging his mouth and nose, and yet he could still feel it in his ears and was blinking rapidly to get it out of his eyes.
He staggard forward, trying to find his feet which seemed to have turned slightly to jelly. Already he was doing his breathing exercises as Aizawa had taught them. Calm the mind, calm the body, focus on an object, and move towards it.
Hitoshi was doing alright on this front before the object he'd been moving towards vanished behind something dark orange.
He stopped moving, realizing suddenly as his eyes cleared that he was in a very open position.
And that he was surrounded.
They were students from a school he didn't recognize. All of them wore costumes that made them look like… ninjas. Which wasn't something he'd been expecting but fine.
Panic rose inside his chest. He was open, exposed, and without any backup. This wasn't looking good, even for someone with the power of All Might in their blood.
So, as usual, he fell back on his first line of defense.
Casual sarcasm.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your Naruto cosplay party."
"Shut up." One of them, the orange and black one standing before him snarled loudly. "You U.A. pricks think you're so great. Well, it looks like we got the drop on you, huh?"
Hitoshi blinked as the others snickered and one menacingly tossed one of their orange balls up into the air. He tried to scan for an escape, but they had clearly cut off all obvious exits.
And to jump above the trench line was- well, that would just be stupid.
"Hey, say 'believe it'. Go on, it'll be funny."
He had to fight to keep the grin off his face as he saw the clear fury enter the ninja's eyes. They were narrow and oddly a bright red color. They reminded him a little of Katsuki's, but without the drive and determination.
They looked like a coward's eyes, especially in the way they flicked to the others as if confirming that they still had the numbers.
"How about you say 'believe it', and we'll pelt you with balls until you give up?" The others snickered, and Hitoshi knew they were about to strike.
He felt lightning beginning to gather in his blood, and his feet were already bending. He would have to risk a jump. He knew he could maybe get away from a few of them, but not all of them, and he felt the crushing weight of this inevitable doom looming over him, a great fist descending to smash him down.
He may lose here, but he'd be damned if he didn't go down swinging.
Then, just as the ninja leader raised his arm to throw one of the balls, a number of things all happened at once. Firstly, Hitoshi heard something hammering towards them at a speed matching that of a bullet train. And his heart leaped because he recognized that hammering.
Purely on instinct, he leaped towards the noise, which just so happened to be coming from behind one of the ninjas, this one clad in green.
The woman had just enough time to turn around and see something very silverly, and quite large, barrel out of the passageway behind her, smashing her side with a swift blow.
A hand reached out.
Hitoshi grabbed it.
In the same moment, the air around them was filled with orange balls, but Hitoshi was already aiming a hand towards them, and with a flick that just connected, a mighty explosion of air force barreled them back.
The ninjas were thrown backward, and within the blink of an eye, Hitoshi was vanishing down another corridor.
"INGENIUM!" He shouted over the explosive noise of his friend's exhaust pipes. "WATCH OUT!"
He was glad he had super strength because he wasn't sure he would be able to keep hold of Tenya at the speeds he was taking the corners at. More than once the teenager had to slam up against one of the jutting rocks, some shattering under his strength, other times he simply bounced off at high speeds.
But before he knew it, Hitoshi was coming to a sudden and bone-jarring stop.
He stumbled off his friend and collapsed beside a carving rock.
"Altashiji!" He looked to see Momo rushing at him. She looked worse for wear, with a sharp graze on her cheek and more than a few bruises on her arms and legs.
When he glanced at Tenya, he noted also that he wasn't looking too good. Parts of his armor were dented and dirty, and one of his targets was lit up orange.
"Hey, guys," Hitoshi breathed and tugged his mask off. He allowed a wry grin to pass over his lips. "What's goin' on?"
"You were almost eliminated!" Tenya snapped, storming towards him. "It's a good thing I showed up."
"Are you hurt?" Momo began looking over him, checking for injuries before he managed to wave her off.
"I'm fine, dude. Don't worry about me. Just a little shell shocked." He again took another sharp breath before gathering himself. "Is it just you two?"
"Yeah, we got separated from everyone else pretty quickly. I think some of them moved towards the mountain, where Morningstar went? I know I saw Pinkie heading towards the urban area with Froppy and Tentacole."
Hitoshi felt his ire rise but managed to hold it in. Again, he wondered if this would have happened if their strongest frontline fighter had stayed with them. He wasn't sure at this point. On one hand, having Nemesis smash through the ranks of the other students would have given them all an easier time, but on the other, he knew how Izuku could get.
One way or another, they would have lost him to the fighting.
No, he couldn't keep relying on just one person to manage them in crazy situations. This wasn't a dictatorship of the strongest quirk, and he wouldn't let it devolve into that.
"We need to regroup," he began sternly. "Do you guys have a plan for finding the others?"
"No." Momo shrugged. "Not without attracting the attention of the other schools."
"I'm not sure we should be so worried about that at this point," Tenya added. "It seems their focus on us was just a start, by now everyone seems to be fighting one another. Look." And he pointed up towards the center of the stadium where, floating far above them all, was a gigantic screen that showed the number of passes.
Right now, only twenty-two had passed.
No, twenty-three.
Hitoshi felt his jaw tighten. The clock was starting to tick, very soon a quarter of all passes would be done, and with only twenty members in their class, well, they would need to get a move on if everyone there was going to get to the next stage.
For a second, he considered simply slinking away. Maybe Izuku had been right. Maybe his chances of passing would be better if he simply struck out on his own. He had All Might's quirk after all, and he could move faster and strike with more force than either Momo or Tenya.
He could pass if he put himself before the others.
… no.
Some deep voice inside his soul knew that he couldn't do that. It wasn't in him to abandon others who needed him, even those capable of fighting their own battles. He would fight those battles right alongside them because that's what he was being molded to do.
He knew he had a responsibility placed upon his shoulders. A line of heroes that he had to live up to. And while it was not exactly a choice to do so, he would gladly take up that mantle.
He would fight to be the number one hero, but only if he could bring others with him.
He stood up. "Come on, let's go."
The other two students glanced at him, confusion in their eyes before they began following after him. Hitoshi had decided to move towards the mountain, where he would hopefully find the others, along with Izuku.
Though at this point his bitterness towards his best friend had become an 'if' they found him, rather than a 'need to'.
"Do you have a plan?" Momo asked, moving to his side and summoning a large staff out of her midsection.
"No, but that's fine. We're supposed to be thinking on our feet, right? Well, let's think while our feet are moving. I do all my best thinking while walking, you know."
Another loud explosion, or perhaps something simply colliding with the earth, happened nearby, but Hitoshi refused to let it rattle him.
"You said some moved towards the mountain, well let's get over there. And if we don't find anyone, we can at least get some elevation and see if we can spot anyone. Maybe we can find a way to throw out a signal, get some friendly eyes on us."
"And what if that brings other schools?" Tenya's slightly muffled voice came cautiously through his steel helmet.
"Then we fight." Hitoshi shrugged as the ground slowly began to tilt up. The huge mountain loomed towards them, towering, and imposing. Hitoshi looked up at it and saw, far above, clouds were gathered around the tip. It looked to him like some great mountain of the Gods from some ancient time of mythic legend.
It looked like a place where men would climb to never come down again.
He frowned, remembering how Izuku had so easily flown up there.
Well, if that's where he was, Hitoshi would scrawl, scrape, and force his way up to his level. The realm of the Gods couldn't be kept separate from man forever, and sooner or later he would show them all that blood and power meant nothing.
He would show them that anyone could climb those heights if they were only given the chance to do so.
SO YEAH. Mephisto keeps pushing for that meeting and he keeps being betrayed. BETRAYED I SAY. Maybe he ought to write a strongly worded letter? Though I do like his ending line to Aizawa, it was very fun. Also having Aizawa almost fall to updog was also fun.
And secondly, we got Hitoshi doing some cool things! I wanted to give someone other than Izuku and Hitoshi some cool moments, hence why we get Tenya running in there with the rescue, and also Momo who I always enjoy writing for and never do so enough. Hitoshi looking up at the mountain where the two demi-gods were meeting was also a cool moment, especially with his fist-shaking "I WILL CLIMB THIS MOUNTAIN" moment. Honestly, this was just a nice little chapter to write.
NEXT CHAPTER, we catch up with Izuku a little, as well as get some kickass Ochaco action. I'm taking this arc to show off some other characters that I usually wouldn't, cos why not.
So, thank you for reading, thank you for being you, and keep safe!
